Lee Small - 2011 - Jamaica Inn

Saturday, 18 February 2012 12:14 | Written by Gino |

Tracks:Jamaica Inn The Captain's Quarters Black Bess Walk the Plank Shine A Light Dead Man Walking Voyager I am the sea Smuggler's Blues Waiting for the Hangman End of the road The Renegade Accordion Player

Lee Small hails from the West Midlands in the U.K, a place that has brought a wealth of talent in rock music & heavy metal gentry, such as Black Sabbath, Judas Priest, Robert Plant, Magnum, John Bonham, Slade, Mel & Tom Galley & the voice of rock, Glenn Hughes to name just a few.Since then, Lee has been quietly climbing the ladder to success. In the 1990's Lee fronted UK Melodic Rockers "Pride" and had the opportunity to tour with up and coming bands at the time such as Winger, Skin and Thunder.In the late 90's he formed Native Cain with ex-Pride members and released the album "Primitive Soul" with them in 1998. During 2000 he has been involved with Rock legends "Budgie" and Eric Bell's "Thin Lizzy". It was not long before Escape Music recognized his vocal talent and Lee features on Escape Music releases Surveillance "Angelstation" and Cloven Hoof "Eye of the Sun" and not forgetting Tom Galley's Psychofantasy project !!

More recently Lee took to the mike stand for legendary UK melodic rockers SHY , and has helped create a marvellous piece of music which has received reviews of epic proportions. Lee Small is a name at the forefront of the rock scene at present and what a time to unleash his very own solo outing, an album which is full of surprises. Lee has given us a bluesy rock album that features contributions from Martin Kronlund (Gypsy Rose), Imre Daun (Don Patrol, Gypsy Rose) and Paul Bradder (Saracen).

The opener and title track is a rockin', solid bluesy song that sets the mood for what comes.The little shots of wailing lead are well supported by moody organ at times and Small’s vocal has depth and richness.Small really has a huge voice, matching the passion of Hughes on the sloulful "The Captain's Quarters"."Black Bess" actually pushes the blues towards a sort of upbeat heavy-funk vibe and it’s a nice change of direction before..."Walk The Plank" cranks it back up."Dead Man Walking" is perhaps the pick of the album, with a soulful vocal to die for a nice little melodic riff running alongside it.The slow mood of the choir on "I Am The Sea" is excellent and a nice bit of variety to an already subtly varied selection of songs.The final track "The Renegade Accordion Player" sees an accordion sample rendition of a famous Kansas song. Nice touch.

The listener is treated to tasty melodic rock with heavy influences from blues rock and soul rock."Jamaica Inn" is not just a melodic blues/soul rock, it is very good release containing some well-crafted and well performed rock tunes wlots of melody, and Lee Smalls soulful vocals add a dimension of both appeal and melancholy to the overall sound.Guitar fans can, despite the absense of all out hard rock, nonetheless look forward to some blazing guitar solos.Lee Small's "Jamaica Inn" is a fine example of melodic rock and, with its bluesey and soulful nature , a welcome alternative to most mainstream pop music.